Dodgers relief pitcher Kenley Jansen has shown diminished velocity while taking a loss and blowing a save in his first two outings of the season. Jansen, who had a lighter spring training workload, insists he is fine physically – though lingering effects from a mid-March left hamstring injury might be affecting his mechanics. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The closer was on a light program throughout spring training. He started his throwing program later than most of the staff and didn’t pitch in a Cactus League game until March 15 (a month after pitchers reported). He pitched in games only a handful of times before the Freeway Series (three single-inning outings in Cactus League games and a couple more in minor-league games).

This reduced spring workload has produced a rocky start for Jansen.

The right-hander has shown diminished velocity while taking a loss and blowing a save in his first two outings. Jansen insists he is fine physically – though lingering effects from a mid-March left hamstring injury might be affecting his mechanics.

If there is a connection between Jansen’s light spring work and being “out of whack” to start the season, the Dodgers might now be second-guessing the spring plan.

“No, I think physically right now where he’s at he feels great, he feels strong,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think the counter to having him pitch more is the (risk of) injury or not feeling strong. In Kenley, the mechanics is something he’s always had to work through. I don’t think that’s a workload thing. We were really just trying to make sure that we didn’t push him too hard in the spring, understanding that we have a long way to go in the season.

“I think if we had it to do over again, we’d do the same thing.”

DESPERATE TIMES

If Monday’s (and Tuesday’s) 15-inning game had gone any longer, things were about to get weird.

Diamondbacks backup catcher Jeff Mathis ended the game with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 15th. If he hadn’t, Mathis said he was going to pitch the 16th for the Diamondbacks. Mathis pitched an inning on two occasions for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012.

Meanwhile, Joc Pederson and Kenta Maeda were warming up in the batting cage behind the Dodgers’ dugout. If the game continued into a 16th inning, Pederson was going to pitch for the Dodgers and Maeda was going into the game to replace Pederson in left field.

“I’m a very good shagger,” Maeda said in English, adding that he had played the outfield in high school.

Pederson has never pitched in a game as a professional, but Roberts said he would have been the choice “kind of by default.”

“Joc’s got an easy arm stroke and he can get it moving over the plate,” Roberts said. “The next guy in mind was (Yasiel) Puig. Battle of attrition, I didn’t know who to go with. Joc was the first to go as I looked out to the field and figured out who were the candidates.”

Puig’s arm strength is well-documented – including a catch-and-spin throw in the 14th inning that nailed Ketel Marte at second base.

“I think he would be straight as a string. It would come with some velocity,” Roberts said of Puig as a pitcher. “A little bit of a worry for me is he would try to overexert himself and come up a little sore or injured.”

FRESH ARM

With their bullpen drained by the 15-inning game, the Dodgers added right-hander Zach Neal as a reinforcement.

The Dodgers signed the 29-year-old Neal as a free agent this off season after he went 2-4 with a 4.89 ERA in 30 games (six starts) for the Oakland A’s the past two seasons. Stretched out as a starter this spring, Neal is scheduled to start for Triple-A Oklahoma City this weekend – an assignment he might still make if the Dodgers don’t need him in the next two days.

“The main thing is the length,” Roberts said. “So if something unforeseen happens today – a ball off the shin or something like that – then to have somebody who has length so you don’t blow your bullpen out today was imperative.”

Neal took the roster spot of right-hander Josh Fields, who was placed on paternity leave and left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their child. Fields is expected to rejoin the Dodgers in San Francisco on Friday.

In order to add Neal to the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated for assignment right-hander Jesus Lirzano – who was acquired on Monday in a minor-league trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

NO TRAYCE

Outfielder Trayce Thompson was claimed on waivers by the New York Yankees. Thompson had been designated for assignment by the Dodgers last week as they set their season-opening roster. The Yankees have been hit by a run of early-season injuries to outfielders.

Acquired in a three-way trade with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox in December 2015, Thompson hit .207 with 14 home runs in 107 games with the Dodgers. His chance to establish himself with the Dodgers was set back by a back injury in mid-season 2016.

None of the players acquired in that December 2015 trade – Thompson, right-hander Frankie Montas and infielder Micah Johnson – are still with the Dodgers.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.